Saturday, July 31, 2010

Think for example of St Peter Canisius, who spearheaded the re-evangelisation of Germany with his catechetical works; and one remembers with pride St Edmund Campion, who even though on the run during his brief English ministry still managed to write, print and distribute the Decem Rationes, popularly known as “Campion’s Brag”, a stunningly effective work of apologetics, all the more so for being produced under the very noses of the Elizabethan authorities. Its very daring got it noticed. Again, Jesuit colleges throughout Europe, but especially in the Austrian lands, were effective in re-Catholicising territories that had been lost to the Church.

Father Francis D'Sa knows this reality well. He is a Jesuit priest and theologian from Pune in India, part of a Christian minority in a country whose majority is Hindu, but which also has large numbers of Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. He has become well known as a specialist in inter-religious dialogue, speaking and writing extensively on the appropriate theology that will promote understanding and good relations between different cultures and faiths. D'Sa is one of the leading scholars worldwide on the theology of Raimon Panikkar, who is a pioneer in promoting inter-religious dialogue. Panikkar, now 92 and only recently retired, was born in northern Spain of a Spanish Catholic mother and Indian Hindu father. After ordination as a Catholic priest, he was one of the first Western academics to go to India to study Eastern religions

Friday, July 30, 2010

I walked down into the ravine where Isaac Jogues and his companions were martyred. Having never been to Europe where many site of martyrdom can no doubt be found, this was a particularly powerful experience for me.

Knowing that I was walking on the very ground where Jogues and his friends were captured, tortured, and killed made the whole “saint thing” all the more real. While we venerate these holy men and women for their moral excellence and dedication to the faith, this visit forced me to come to grips with the fact that these were real people.

Indeed, they were ordinary people who, by the grace of God, accomplished extraordinary holiness. It also forces one to reflect on our own ordinary lives and ask whether we have missed out on invitations to extraordinary opportunities. As my brother in law often says, “If not now, then when? If not me, then whom?” Because Isaac escaped from his initial captivity, we have his own written journals describing the horrific events that happened in Ossernenon (modern day Auriesville, New York). As you begin the trek down into the ravine, there are signs posted every ten feet or so. On the signs are written the very words of Isaac Jogues.

Link (here) read the words of Saint Isaac and to the very personal and moving post at Roma locuta est, by blogger Jake Tawney.Statue of St. Isaac Joques, S.J. (here)

To offer us some protein, Miss Best was kind enough to drive us every week to sit in on the theology classes she was taking with Rev. John Hardon, S.J., at St. John's University. While the man was brilliant, the classes were dull -- based as they were on impenetrable phenomenological addresses by Pope John Paul II.

But I made the most of the question periods, probing that saintly priest with all the Faith-testing, Jesuitical questions that 16-year-old smart alecks are driven to ask. And Father Hardon parried them brilliantly, as Jesuits have done for centuries. He shot down in flames every doubt my personal Screwtape had whispered in my ear, and built up in my mind solid habits of faithful reasoning. I will be grateful to him in eternity, I hope.

When my high school friend (not I) expressed an interest in the priesthood, Father Hardon offered advice: "I wish that I could recommend you apply to the Society of Jesus," he said in his careful way. "I love the order, and wish it could be saved. But I cannot in good conscience send any young man into its seminaries."

The first reliable system for measuring the transparency of sea water was developed by astronomer and Jesuit priest Pietro Angelo Secchi. Asked by the Pope in 1865 to measure the clarity of water in the Mediterranean Sea for the Papal navy, he conceived and developed the "Secchi disk", which must be one of the simplest instruments ever deployed; it is simply lowered into the sea until its white colour disappears from view.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Yoga is incompatible with Catholicism because the best known practice of Hindu spirituality is Yoga. “Inner”Hinduism professes pantheism, which denies that there is only one infinite Being who created the world out of nothing.

This pantheistic Hinduism says to the multitude of uncultured believers who follow the ways of the gods that they will receive the reward of the gods. They will have brief tastes of heaven between successive rebirths on earth.

But they will never be delivered from the “wheel of existence” with its illusory lives and deaths until they realize that only “God” exists and all else is illusion (Maya).

A spokesman for the Roman Catholic order, reacting to the call by the victims' group "Eckiger Tisch" ("Square Table"), said the round table group on abuse set up by the government in March would discuss the compensation question in September.

The Holy family Ward has been blessed with a number of religious vocations. Six children of late Intru and Rosemary Lobo have dedicated themselves to the service of the church and serving in different regions of India. Fr. Daniel Lobo S.J. is in Mumbai, Fr. Lawrence Lobo S.J. in Baroda, Sr. Veronica Lobo (AC) in Orissa, Sr. Shalini Lobo (AC) in Mangalore, Sr. Pricilla Lobo (AC) in Gujarat and Sr. Sylvian Lobo (AC) in Mangalore.

Violence Prevention in United States Society of Jesus Secondary Schools
Author: Thomas Andrew Simondsa of Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USAYes, some actually wrote this article for 30.00 dollars you can buy it (here)

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The spirit of Carmel has been more notable in Chile over these last days. And despite my loyalty to my Jesuit confreres, I have to admit that there is a special urgency to the holiness of Carmel. For attention to the Church’s esteem for “unaccomplished,” contemplative lives helps to disambiguate two ideals so easily confused in our age: Christian holiness and philanthropic moralism—with the latter being understood more or less as the duty to reduce human human suffering whenever possible. The Chilean Church’s seemingly disproportionate joy over these feasts of Carmel reminded me of a letter written by Georges Bernanos (pictured) that I ran across some years back (and that has haunted me ever since). Therein the French Catholic novelist explains why he made Fr. Donissan, the saintly protagonist of Sous le Soleil de Satan, so humanly unimpressive. For Bernanos, the human “foolishness” of this “saint of Lumbres” was necessary precisely to expose the attempted reduction of Christianity to philanthropic moralism

The 400th anniversary celebration of a Nova Scotian chief's baptism will be held next week. His baptism, along with others from the Mi'kmaq people represent the first conversions to the Roman Catholic Church in the area.

The celebration commemorating 400 years since the baptism of Grand Chief Henri Membertou of the Mi'kmaq People will take place on Chapel Island, Nova Scotia this coming Aug. 1.

A letter released by the Holy See's Press Office on Saturday announced that newly appointed prefect of the Congregation for bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, will be attending on the Pope's behalf.

Bishop of Antigonish, Brian Joseph Dunn, explained the significance of the occasion in a pastoral letter earlier this month. Congratulating the Mi'kmaq people on their faith since the leader converted to Christianity four centuries ago, Bishop Dunn recalled why this anniversary is "such a momentous occasion for all in this diocese." Grand Chief Henri Membertou was baptized by French explorers, thus becoming the first indigenous leader to become Christian, being joined in baptism that day in 1610 by the rest of his family. Bishop Dunn said that he took on his responsibilities as a committed Christian, also urging Jesuit missionaries to preach in the Mi'kmaq language. Following his lead, the Christian faith became a part of the people's culture, he wrote, and has continued up to today, "to such an extent that virtually each Mi’kmaq person continues the tradition of being baptized. "The Mi’kmaq people are truly the first Roman Catholics in this land and their descendants practiced the Christian faith even before the arrival of any permanent European settlement."

I usually talk about St. Augustine's famous line from his autobiography, "The Confessions:" "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you."

We all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts, a longing for infinite love and beauty. Only God can fill that emptiness, but we tend to want to take the hunger pains away by filling the hole with substitutes--possessions and wealth, pleasure, power and prestige.

We may feel satisfied for a while, but ultimately the restlessness and longing return.

Monday, July 26, 2010

The Scranton City Council president to task for trying to shake down the University of Scranton in exchange for an aerial easement it needed to build a $33 million dormitory in the 900 block of Mulberry Street. The university pulled its request after its president, the Rev. Scott R. Pilarz, S.J., said Mrs. Janet Evans and her council "supermajority" tried to tie approval of the easement to an increase in the university's voluntary annual payment in lieu of taxes. Despite council's attempt to hold the university's project hostage, officials there decided to increase the nonprofit's PILOT payment nearly 60 percent, to $175,000. The university is the city's only major institution making a PILOT payment of any significance.

Andy Stern, past president of the SEIU, will join the Georgetown Public Policy Institute as a senior research fellow beginning August 1st. In the words of Georgetown's press release, Stern "will conduct and coordinate research efforts on a number of social policy issues, including wage reform, labor policy, and retirement security. He also will engage with the Georgetown community of students, faculty and alumni in a variety of ways, through guest lectures, workshops, and public events."

Sunday, July 25, 2010

"If Jesus Christ thirsted for souls, must not a Christian also thirst? If He came to cast fire on the earth, must not a Christian be enkindled? Has he not called us to be His apostles and His ambassadors, in order that His Incarnation might be prolonged through the continued dispensation of the divine through the human?"

He answered his own question by declaring that, "A Catholic who does not strive to spread his Faith is a parasite on the life of the Church."

This is reason number 9 out 23, original published at the Homiletic and Pastoral Review

A Jesuit priest in a Roman collar is an inspiration to others who think: “Here is a modern disciple of Jesus.” The Roman collar speaks of the possibility of making a sincere, lasting commitment to God. Believers of diverse ages, nationalities and temperaments will note the virtuous, other-centered life of the man who gladly and proudly wears the garb of a Catholic priest, and perhaps will realize that they too can consecrate themselves anew, or for the first time, to the loving Good Shepherd.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

All that remains of the greatest of Macau's churches is its magnificent stone facade and grand staircase. The church was built in 1602 adjoining the Jesuit College of St. Paul's, the first Western college in the Far East where missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Adam Schall studied Chinese before serving at the Ming Court in Beijing as astronomers and mathematicians. The church, made of taipa and wood, was brilliantly decorated and furnished, according to early travelers. The facade of carved stone was built in 1620-27 by Japanese Christian exiles and local craftsmen under the direction of Italian Jesuit Carlo Spinola.

After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the college was used as an army barracks and in 1835 a fire started in the kitchens and destroyed the college and the body of the church.

After restoration work, lasting from 1990 to 1995, the back side of the Ruins of St. Paul's was turned into a museum. The ruins are regarded as the symbol of Macau and now offer visitors a new site where they can view the remains of the former Church of the Mother of God, visit a Crypt where the relics of the Martyrs of Japan and Vietnam rest, and a museum of Sacred Art where there are exhibits of paintings, sculptures and liturgical objects from churches and monasteries in the City.

Friday, July 23, 2010

The war broke out in August 1914, Mansfield Cumming's service moved quickly to expand its network of agents across Europe and Russia. It was imperative to know where the German troops were headed and what armaments they were developing. Many civilians in Belgium and northern France risked their lives to provide details of enemy troop movements by watching the trains on which they travelled to the front.

One of Cumming's most successful agents was a French-Irish Jesuit priest named O'Caffrey. In June 1915 he located two Zeppelin airships, housed in sheds near Brussels, that had days earlier dropped bombs on London, killing seven people and injuring 35. The British wreaked their revenge, bombing and destroying the Zeppelins.

As the war dragged on, the British began to worry that Russia would withdraw from the fighting, freeing up 70 German divisions for the Western Front. With the Tsar at the front, Russia was ruled by the Tsarina, who was in thrall to the 'holy-man' Grigori Rasputin, a promiscuous, power-crazed drunk.

If the religious institution was not acting out of religious motives, the Ninth Circuit reasoned, then it was liable for Title VII violations. The same reasoning was employed by the Ninth Circuit in Bollard v. California Province of the Society of Jesus. Bollard was a novice at a Jesuit prep school and then attended a Jesuit seminary. He alleged s@xual harassment involving his superiors in each place, who sent him p@rnography and made se@ual advances. The court held that the ministerial exception did not protect the Jesuits, because the discrimination happened in a context divorced from clergy selection and in the absence of a religious belief in the s@xual harassment.

Link (here) to the full article at Find Law the author is Marci Hamilton

Thus if a man wearing an "I Hate Jesuits"doublet comes up to you on your way home from mass and asks in a threatening manner "What religion are you?", you can say "Why, Protestant of course," then mentally add "Not really! Up Pope Urban!" and proceed, troubled by neither your questioner's dagger nor your conscience.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

As a relatively young city, Seattle doesn't have a large number of major art collections in public or private hands. Though our art benefactors have been generous and shown a fine eye for great art, Seattle can't stand up to the magnificent art collectors and collections in cities like San Francisco, New York, or even Los Angeles.
So local art lovers have to do a little more legwork to enjoy the pleasures of seeing art. One great source for viewing art is to take in the fine art collections in the corporate or organizational world. To take in one of these fine collections, start at Seattle University's central campus on Capitol Hill.

Link (here) to the Sun Break blog with lots of pictures of Seattle University art collection and new chapel.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has a positive view of the pontific, as evidenced by his recent interview with the Ukrainian media. Journalists asked the patriarch about dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.

"We are optimistic about the position of Pope Benedict XVI," Patriarch Kirill told Ukrainian journalists. "Liberal theologians and the Western media may criticize him, but his stance coincides with the opinions of the Orthodox Church on many social and moral issues."

The staff of the Patriarchy is searching for venues of practical cooperation with western Christians. Just over a week ago, Hegumen Philipp (Ryabykh), deputy chairman of the Moscow Patriarchy's Department for External Church Relations, met with Rev. Adolfo Nicolas, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, to discuss the possibility of joint efforts to promote Christian values in Europe, including with the Jesuit experience in religious education.

Back in the dressing room, I put on my clericals and walked out. Going by the technicians' office, I said goodbye. One of them looked at me astonished.

"I didn't know that you were a man of the Word." I had to laugh: My clerical status does not shine through a hospital gown. I do not ever remember being called a "man of the Word." No doubt, this form of address is an honored title in black Protestant churches. It was meant as that.

The title made me think. Is a priest a "man of the Word?" His three powers are to "teach, to rule, and to sanctify." So, yes, he is a man of the Word. He recognizes Scripture -- and, through it, the Church and Christ -- as the source of any "word" he speaks in its name. The man of the Word is first to be sure that his word is the word that the Lord handed down, not his own musings about pious things.

Three Christian (Including one Jesuit scholastic) activists from Witness Against Torturetraveled to Bermuda on Friday, July 16, 2010 to meet with four Uyghur men who were detained in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba for more than seven years. (The Uyghur ethnic group primarily resides in western China.) The Bush administration conceded that the men are not “enemy combatants,” and in October 2008 a federal judge ordered their release. Eight months later, four Uyghurs were resettled in Bermuda. Other Uyghur detainees were resettled elsewhere while five Uyghurs remain in Guantánamo.....Luke Hansen, who is studying to become a Jesuit priest, states, “One of the many things that has impressed me in our conversations with these men, whom the Bush administration repeatedly labeled as the ‘worst of the worst,’ is their gentleness and compassion. While these men fiercely criticize the rationalizations behind their detention, they have expressed no resentment towards their captors, but rather have focused solely on the imperative to release the remaining Uyghur detainees at Guantánamo.”... Luke Hansen, S.J., 28, is part of the Wisconsin Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). In May, Luke earned an M.A. at Loyola University Chicago. His thesis is titled, “Countering Terrorism with Justice: A Catholic Response to Policies of Indefinite Detention in the Fight Against Terrorism.”

Read the entire press release at (here) Common Dreams, a self described progressive organization. Photo (here)Read more about the Uyghurs and Islamic militancy at Jihad Watch(here)

While the encyclical began with a general condemnation of modernist assumptions, it moved into a specific attack on racism. Father LaFarge's hand was evident in the condemnation of American racial segregation, but the burden was anti-Semitism and Nazi eugenics. As it was never published, it has been called "The Hidden Encyclical,"

with the implication that Pope Pius XII found it too strong. Now we know that Pius XII, in his own inaugural encyclical Summi Pontificatus, took up the theme of race mythology but excised the glaringly anti-Jewish commentary that accompanied the broad condemnations of genocide in the text Father Ledochowski had presented to Pius XI. Like Harry Truman, who had not been informed of the Yalta texts, Pius XII apparently had not previously seen the text of Humani Generis Unitas.

Contrary to the claims of some later historians, Pius XII preserved the essential critique of anti-Semitism, while excising stereotypical descriptions of Jews that would have been exploited by the Nazis:

"Blinded by a vision of material domination and gain," and "this unhappy people, destroyers of their own nation."

Monday, July 19, 2010

We would identify and expose the root reason for the delirium of violence which is rampant today. It is the attack against God. Behind the metaphysic of murder lies the metaphysic of hate. I refuse therefore I am Refusal to serve God was the cry under which Satan brought violent rebellion among the angels. He seduced men into aping his fanatical refusal and thus brought violence and death upon the earth.

Christ testifies that this father of lies was a murderer from the beginning and he warns the Pharisees that men who reject God will freely choose to become the children of Satan, and will follow in their lives Satan's desires and deeds. We live in an age of violence because we live in an age of organized and spreading atheism. In the West a generation that has rejected absolute Christian truths and values, that has dissolved God into a series of harmless abstractions, that disestablished and secularized religion, that has praised permissiveness and tolerance of heresy and immorality, is living a life pleasing to that murderer from the beginning.

Such a Judaeo-Christian civilization is trying to live not off the substance but off the vanishing perfume of Christianity. In coming to terms with lying, fornication, adultery, sexual perversion, divorce and mass abortion this civilization has opted for a life of sin-the source of every violent way of life. Such a civilization cannot any longer attract men to ideals and virtues it has long rejected. On the contrary it inflames men to violent rebellion because of its betrayal of these values and of its hypocrisy in still posing as Christian. Our modern godless civilization with its amazing advancement in technical progress has, nevertheless, turned men into machines, destroying their sense of personal dignity and responsibility.

Link (here) to read the full essay. Go (here) to read a story right out today's headlines demonstrating the facts of Fr. Miceli's essay

Awhile ago, I served as sacristan at a Jesuit high school. With no disrespect to the Society of Jesus, you can imagine that the Masses were full of liturgical abuses. After Mass, I was often asked by the campus minister and/or priest to purify the vessels. Also, after every all-school Mass there was always a considerable amount of Precious Blood remaining; when I began to consume the Precious Blood remaining, I was told by the campus minister and priest to

"just pour it down the sacrarium; that’s what it’s there for."

Now I knew that purifying vessels was reserved to the priest/deacon, and I wasn’t positive—but fairly sure—that the Precious Blood should not be poured down the sacrarium. But, out of confusion and fear, I did what they asked me to do (only once, however, did I pour the Precious Blood down the sacrarium; after that one time, I refused to). I brought these sins to confession, and received absolution. However, I now fear that I have incurred a greatly penalty than I originally thought. I know it wasn’t intentional, but would this situation still be considered "desecration or profanation of the Blessed Sacrament"). And if so, how would I resolve this?

Link (here) to read Fr. John T. Zulsdoph's full post, his answer and further analysis at What Does The Prayer Really Say ?

"Certainly it's a stylistically impeccable, beautiful painting," the newspaper said in an article that will appear in its Sunday edition. "One can't but be reminded of works like the Conversion of St. Paul, the Martyrdom of St. Matthew and Judith and Holofernes."

The "Martyrdom of St. Lawrence" belonging to the Jesuit order has not yet been authenticated as a work of (pictured)Caravaggio,

but appears to have all the hallmarks of his paintings including dramatic lighting effects, the Osservatore Romano said.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

God's condescension is striving against St. Thomas' incredulity. Eight days went by, days of joy and happiness for the other disciples, days of anxiety for Thomas. After eight days, Jesus is seen again, and this time the manifestation is for the very purpose of convincing the unbelieving apostle. God condescends-to his weakness; in His excessive charity He allows him to verify the assertion he has so rashly made:

"And after eight days His disciples were again within, and Thomas with them; Jesus cometh, the door being shut, and stood in the midst and said: Peace be to you."

How did He enter, all doors being shut? Behold He is in the midst of them, in medio eorum; the Shepherd with His flock. At the sight of Jesus in His glory, at the sound of His voice, what a thrill of joy went through them! "Then He saith to Thomas—" Why is he the first to draw the Lord's attention? Peter and John were there; Mary herself, they say, was there. Jesus spoke to none of these. He ignores the dignity of some present, but takes heed of the one who stands in need of His mercy. In this instance we see the heart of Jesus, as shown in the parables of the prodigal son and the good shepherd: He leaves the ninety-nine in the desert, and goeth after the one that hath perished. "Son, thou art always with me; but thy brother was dead and is come to life." (Luke, xv. 31, 32.) "Draw near to Me, faithless disciple, thou art so dear to Me, I will not consent that thou shouldst go to perdition. I will comply with thy request. Behold, here are the hands that have healed the sick, and lavished blessings upon the people. Here are the feet that were so eager to run after the stray sheep; here is the heart that was opened by the lance. Behold, and if to see Me is not enough, touch Me; put thy finger into My hands, bring hither thy hand and put it into My side, plunge it into that heart that loves thee still, and be not incredulous, but faithful: Put in thy finger hither, and bring hither thy hand and put it into My side; and be not incredulous, but faithful." O unutterable compassion! O sweet mercy! O surpassing tenderness! Priests of God, do you thus welcome the poor sinner?"

Saturday, July 17, 2010

The recently opened Tushanwan Museum features a contrast that is pure Shanghai: a 1930s advertising poster of a sultry, qipao-clad siren next to an austere painting of Jesus. Both are legacies of the city's Jesuit Tushanwan Orphanage and its attached arts and crafts academy, which helped to introduce Western art into China.

So what happened to Tushanwan? In 1953, the 200 remaining orphans – and the orphanage – were taken from the Shanghai Diocese, and brought under the control of (Communist) Shanghai’s Civil Affairs Bureau . In 1956, as the country’s various industries were nationalized, Tushanwan’s workshops were broken off and given to various state industrial groups. According to Zikawei in History: “The Tushanwan Orphanage finally finished its history in about 1960.”

Photo is of the Tushanwan Orphanage wood shop (here) at Shanghai Scrap

The charity’s latest refugee package for Syria of $29,000 comes amid reports showing that Iraqis continue to face huge problems on entering the country. Exhausted after a long and sometimes tortuous journey, the refugees arriving in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and Aleppo receive help first and foremost for urgent operations and other medical aid.

Coordinated by Chaldean Catholic parishes in both cities, the relief operation also includes basic food stuffs – tea, butter, sugar and cooking oil – distributed monthly. In response to urgent pleas for help from young families, Bishop Audo (pictured) has opened a school for refugee children in Aleppo and both there and in Damascus youngsters are receiving educational support from parish volunteers. Speaking from Aleppo in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Audo said: “When the Iraqi Christians arrive in Syria, they only have the Church to help support them. It is the Church which is there for them. We are the ones providing adequate aid.”

We’ll admit it—we love spotting Jack the Bulldog riding around campus in a golf cart with his buddy, Fr. Christopher Steck, S.J.. For a short time this week, however, it looked like Jack lost his cart privileges. “Bad news for Jack: he’s going to have to use his paws to get around campus. No more use of the Jesuit golf cart,” Steck wrote in a Twitter message last Saturday.

The Jesuit Community decided to “limit use of its golf carts to Jesuits” after one cart set on fire while students used it.

Steck told us in an email that the incident, which occurred “a couple of months ago,” raised liability concerns that led to the stricter policy.

The Jesuit Louis-Daniel Le Comte, thus describes the Chinese emperor Camhi. " The emperor appeared to me of stature above the average, more corpulent than those among us who are proud of their shape, but a little less so than a Chinese desires to be ; the face full and marked with the smallpox ; the forehead large ; the nose and eyes small, like those of the Chinese ; the mouth handsome, and the lower part of the face very agreeable. His demeanour is benevolent, and one remarks in all his manners and actions, something which indicates the sovereign and is distinguished."

From a Letter of Father Ferdinand Verbiest, sent from Pekin, the capital of China, to Europe ; concerning a Second Journey which he made with the Emperor of China, beyond the great Chinese Wall into Tartary.

For the first time a quisling met his match. Cardinal Law attacked the piece and ThePilot for one had a seething editorial. John Cardinal O’Connor, in Catholic New York, thundered, "I’m sorry Fr. Drinan, but you are wrong, dead wrong. You could have raised your formidable voice for life, you raised it for death. Hardly the role of a lawyer, surely not the role of a priest."

when Vietnam was divided in two, many Catholics moved from the Communist North to the South where they could freely practice their religion. During this time, Domus Dei members helped immigrants adapt to the culture and environment in their new land.

Obama also thanked (pictured) Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity who is CHA president and chief executive, for "the extraordinary leadership she's provided in advancing our national discussion." In the closing days of the health reform debate, Sister Carol and other CHA leaders urged passage of the legislation, saying they were convinced it would not expand federal funding of abortion.

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department announced at the end of June that the federal government had approved $160 million to set up a high-risk insurance plan for thousands of Pennsylvania residents with pre-existing conditions. Though the announcement made no reference to abortion and the policy itself says "elective abortions" are not covered, the National Right to Life Committee claimed it would cover abortions in almost every circumstance. "What their plan actually does is say if it's legal, it's covered," said NRLC Legislative Director Douglas Johnson. "Abortion ends up being covered if it's not explicitly excluded." The Pennsylvania policy says it covers "only abortions and contraceptives" that fall under Pennsylvania law. Johnson said that the "elective abortion" restriction in the Pennsylvania policy is "not a legal term," and so any abortion procedure legal in Pennsylvania could be covered under the high-risk plan.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

The 350 scenic and rolling acres on which the golf course sits once served as a park retreat for the Detroit Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order of priests and educators. And yes, many of them are good golfers and play Shepherd's Hollow often.

Fr. Karel Slavíček, S.J. (here) and (here) (Karl Slavicek, S.J.) or (Carolus Slavicek, S.J.)an astronomer and mathematician from Jimramov (today's Czech Republic), came to Beijing from Lisbon, Portugal as a Jesuit missionary in 1714. "Slavíček was on a mission; not only in the real sense of the word as a religious missionary, but also on a mission of creating a bridge between the cultures of Europe and China," Sečka said in his opening speech.

In 1722, many Jesuits were expelled to Canton, China, but Slavíček's scientific merit allowed him to stay in Beijing. He defended Chinese astronomy, especially the sixty-year cycle, which is the basis of the Chinese calendar, and said that China was the most educated and civilized nation of his time.

The exhibit, which shows Slavíček's translated letters and works, will be on display in the second hall of the observatory for the next three months. Veronika Musilová, third secretary of the Embassy of the Czech Republic to China, said that the exhibit took several tedious months to complete. She said she hopes the exhibit will spark interest in others to visit observatories in the Czech Republic and harbor more Czech-Chinese cooperation.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The tomb of St. Ignatius Loyola is situated at a brilliant side altar in the Society of Jesus's Mother church in Rome, the Church of the Gesu. One of the most striking features of the tomb of St. Ignatius is the sculpture to the right of the altar entitled "Religion Overthrowing Heresy and Hatred"by the Baroque master Pierre Le Gros "the Younger" (1666-1719). Indeed it is a memorable and striking work, the intricacies of which tell the story of a triumphant Church and a religious order of men that was dedicated to ensuring such triumph. G.K. Chesterton once commented, "Baroque was regarded as a bombshell; especially as it was spread by the Jesuits, who were credited with consistent readiness to throw a bomb." Some of the Jesuits of my acquaintance were indeed bomb-throwers but not of the baroque variety.

Link (here) to Renew America and read the full article by John M. DeJakentitled "Bomb Throwing Jesuits"

Vasco Da Gama discovered the Cape route to India. Filippo Sassetti, an Italian Jesuit priest who was in Goa in the 1580s, noted that the terms in Sanskrit and in Mediterranean languages for six, seven, eight and nine, God, snakes, etc were similar.Link (here) to the Telegraph to read full article.

the famous Flemish Jesuit priest, who has the credit of establishing the roots of Christianity among tribals in India, is now looking for priests. Minor school of Roeselare in Belgium, where the legendary missionary got his initial education,

Monday, July 12, 2010

What, to me, is the challenge for Jesuits today—and which we can share with the faithful we serve— is to live and teach fidelity to the Church. In his rules for thinking with the Church, which is expressed in and by the Jesuit vow of obedience, Ignatius exhorts us, above all, to “ever be ready and prompt to obey in all things the true Spouse of Christ our Lord, our holy Mother, the hierarchical Church.” Fidelity and obedience to the Church, in the person of the Pope and the local bishop, is the mark of a true Roman Catholic Christian, even when sometimes—or many times–we do not understand certain decisions or actions that cause us much hurt and confusion.

We may question certainly; we may represent; we may disagree, even dissent probably—but in the end, when we have exhausted all means to make our voices heard, we humbly bow and accept the inevitable because as Ignatius teaches us, God’s will is manifested in our all-too-human superiors and Church leaders. This is a hard saying for many, I know, and maybe even my fellow Jesuits will dispute this, but there is no other way we can preserve the unity of the Church which we all love, if we do not live and practice obedience to her.

Unfortunately, this Mother Church is not a democracy, and this is probably one of the reasons why “the gates of hell has not prevailed against it” for 2000-plus years. Only time will tell if our voices were disinterested and prophetic, or were they voices of vested interests under the guise of “for the common good.”

About Me

I am not a Jesuit, nor am I a cleric. I spent about 5 years under the spiritual direction of a Jesuit, 3 of those years in a weekly directed retreat in everyday life. The profound impact that the Society and the Excercises had upon my life, resulted in me, trying to deal with that impact in some way by sharing my view of Jesus Christ with others. My intention is to pull together Jesuitical and Catholic subjects that interest me. I was born on the feast day of St. Paul Miki, S.J.. I am the father of three small children and an infant, I am married to a great wife.